How to Make Juicy Instant Pot Hamburgers

Instant Pot hamburgers are an easy meal when you don’t want to heat up the stove or grill!

close-up view of an Instant Pot hamburger on a bun with cheese, lettuce, and onions

Learn the tips and tricks to make delicious Instant Pot hamburgers–including how to make them “Big Mac Style!”

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There are so many things you can do with your Instant Pot that you probably don’t even realize yet.

Beyond the Instant Pot soups and chilis that beg to be made in your pressure cooker, you can make Instant Pot cakes and other desserts, yogurt, reheat food in your Instant Pot, proof bread dough, and make plenty of delicious Instant Pot weeknight dinners.

But did you know you can make hamburgers in the Instant Pot?

Yes! You can make juicy burgers and get an easy dinner on the table at the same time. In fact, it’s one of the easiest Instant Pot ground beef recipes!

a double cheeseburger cooked in the Instant Pot served on a clear glass plate with a side of french fries

Making Hamburgers in the Pressure Cooker

If you’ve been using your Instant Pot for very long, you probably know it requires water in order to create the steam that builds the pressure.

So you may be wondering how you’re going to cook hamburgers this way?

It’s actually pretty easy and just requires one simple step–wrapping your burgers in aluminum foil before cooking.

This helps to protect the burgers from all the steam and condensation in the pot, and also keeps them from sticking together to form one big conglomerate of beef.

How to Make Instant Pot Hamburgers

It’s really easy to make these burgers! Here’s how to get started.

Ingredients You’ll Need:

  • Quarter pound beef patties, seasoned to your liking
  • Water for the Instant Pot
  • Buns
  • Toppings as desired: Cheese, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, mustard, ketchup, thousand island dressing, bacon, dill pickles, etc.
a plate of raw hamburger patties for making burgers in the Instant Pot, plus various toppings including cheese, pickles, lettuce, salt, pepper, dressing, onions, and buns.

How to Make It:

(Full printable recipe is available below)

Season and wrap. First, you’ll season the beef patties using salt, pepper, or your favorite burger seasoning mix. I like McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning, but use whatever you prefer. Then, wrap each burger well in foil.

Pour 1 cup of water into the insert pot of the Instant Pot and set the trivet in place. Stack the foil-wrapped burgers on the trivet.

foil-wrapped burgers on top of the trivet in the Instant Pot

Pressure cook. Next, you’ll cook the burgers at high pressure for 10 minutes, followed by a quick release of pressure (you can also allow a natural release if you aren’t in a hurry).

Assemble. Last, you’ll carefully remove the burgers from the foil (watch out for hot juices!) and assemble your burgers, adding toppings as desired.

a burger that was cooked in the Instant Pot pressure cooker is being assembled onto a bun with various toppings

You can add a slice of cheese to the warm burger and allow it to melt, or pop it under the broiler in your oven.

Then serve and enjoy your juicy burger with a side of french fries or my easy Instant Pot macaroni salad or homestyle potato salad.

overhead view of an Instant Pot burger with fries on a clear glass plate

How to Make Big Mac Style Burgers

If you love a good Big Mac, try making your own at home!

To do this, you’ll need two quarter-pound patties per burger, as well as 1 sesame seed bun and an extra bottom bun (three bun pieces total).

For each burger, mix a tablespoon of Thousand Island dressing with 1 1/2 tsp mustard to make the “special sauce.” Spread some of this on the bottom bun.

Add some diced onions and shredded lettuce on top of the sauce, then place a slice of American cheese over it.

Put a warm patty over the cheese, then top with the second bottom bun. Spread that bun with sauce, sprinkle with onions and lettuce, plus a few dill pickle chips, then the second burger patty.

Top with the sesame seed bun and serve!

Instant Pot Big Mac on a clear glass plate in front of a pressure cooker

Notes and Adaptations:

  • If you want your burgers a little pink in the center, you can use less cook time. I prefer my burgers well-done.
  • If you are using larger beef patties, such as 1/3-lb or 1/2-lb, you’ll likely need to increase the cook time by a couple of minutes.
  • You can add sliced onions on top of the burger in the foil packet if you want to add more flavor during the cooking process.

Recommended Equipment:

Yield: 6 Burgers

Juicy Instant Pot Hamburgers

close-up view of an Instant Pot hamburger served on a bun with toppings.

Learn how to make juicy, flavorful hamburgers in your Instant Pot!

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Additional Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 6 beef patties, each 1/4-lb in weight
  • Salt and pepper or other burger seasoning of choice
  • 1 cup water
  • For serving: Buns and toppings as desired

Instructions

  1. Season beef patties by sprinkling with salt and pepper or by adding your favorite burger seasoning. Wrap each patty well in aluminum foil, sealing the packet.
  2. Place the trivet in the insert pot of the Instant Pot and pour 1 cup of water into the pot.
  3. Stack foil-wrapped patties on the trivet. Close lid and set vent to the sealed position.
  4. Select a cook time of 10 minutes at high pressure. After the cook time is complete, perform a quick release of pressure.
  5. Once the pressure has released and the valve has dropped, carefully remove the lid.
  6. Remove the foil-wrapped patties, being careful not to burn yourself. Watch out for the hot juices inside the packets!
  7. Assemble burgers as desired and serve. You can top the warm patties with cheese and allow the cheese to melt, or pop them under the broiler in your oven to melt.

Notes

To make your burgers "Big Mac Style," assemble as follows:

  • To do this, you’ll need two quarter-pound patties per burger, as well as 1 sesame seed bun and an extra bottom bun (three bun pieces total), so adjust quantities accordingly.
  • For each burger, mix a tablespoon of Thousand Island dressing with 1 1/2 tsp mustard to make the “special sauce.” Spread some of this on the bottom bun.
  • Add some diced onions and shredded lettuce on top of the sauce, then place a slice of American cheese over it.
  • Put a warm patty over the cheese, then top with the second bottom
    bun. Spread that bun with sauce, sprinkle with onions and lettuce, plus a few dill pickle chips, then the second burger patty.
  • Top with the sesame seed bun and serve!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 166Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 294mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 11g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is not guaranteed for accuracy.

Want more delicious recipe ideas?

Check out even more mealtime inspiration on my Pinterest boards!

an Instant Pot burger on a bun with toppings, served on a clear glass plate with french fries

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2 Comments

  1. Ms. Benner,

    You have a loud too many advertisements and pop-ups to enjoy this recipe. I just kept scrolling down to the bottom through all the ads until I could find some logical place to leave this comment. I hope you get the comment and it isn’t going to somewhere else because I just couldn’t tell. Advertisements here on this site and the pop-ups are the worst I’ve ever seen. If you have not looked recently, you might want to use someone else’s phone to access what we see. Best of luck to you. Trying to leave the comment here was horrible. The advertisement kept popping up and covering every line that I need to complete as well as the comment section. Not a good thing!

    1. Chrysti Benner says:

      Thank you for letting me know, Deb. There shouldn’t be any pop-ups coming up, so I’ll look into that! Take good care!

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